Fast Ed Halmagyi: Common mistakes when making steak sandwich
THERE are two common mistakes people make when creating a steak sandwich. Chef Ed Halmagyi gives you a few tricks and a recipe for the perfect steak sambo.
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WHEN it comes to cookery there is a vast chasm between theory and practice. The same probably holds true for most crafts, but in food you can truly taste the difference.
Take steak sandwich as an example. In theory it really should be one of the simplest dishes to prepare. After all, its essence is straightforward — some grilled beef, a little bread, and a miscellany of other elements for flavour.
Yet even in the best kitchens elementary dishes like this are routinely shambolic. Not for a lack of care, but simply owing to an absence of logic. If you truly want to master recipes of any kind, an understanding of the systems and procedures underpinning them is essential.
Even something as humble as steak sandwich is subject to rules. Specifically, two rules about functionality.
Its most common fault is in planning. All too often a steak sandwich is just plain difficult to eat. This is not simply about the dental dilemma of rubbery steak or shirt-staining perils of drippy sauce but rather about marrying the texture of the filling and the bread.
For a sandwich to work, each bite should be ergonomic. To this end, tough beef cannot match with soft white bread. But equally, tender meat is inimical with chewy sourdough. In the first case the bread falls apart. In the second, your experience of the steak falls deeply into the background, rendering the dish irrelevant.
A secondary fault is the mistake of melting layers of cheese onto the meat much as you would for a burger. The cheese acts as glue and your first bite ends up dragging the entire steak out of the bun.
The answer is elegantly simple. Melt the cheese onto the bottom slice of bread, permitting every bite to be a symphony of flavour and texture.
THE PERFECT STEAK SANDWICH
Ingredients (serves 4)
4 x 125g rump steaks, pounded
1 Tsp celery salt
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 brown onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 slices bread
4 slices vintage cheddar cheese
4 cups salad leaves
Aioli, to serve
Method
Season the steaks with celery salt, then rub with half the olive oil. Cook on a hot ribbed griddle or barbecue for 6 minutes, turning several times, until medium. Drizzle with Worcestershire sauce, then set aside to rest.
Meanwhile, fry the onions and garlic in the remaining olive oil for 5 minutes, until browned. Toast the bread slices, then melt the cheese onto half of them. Top the cheesy bread with salad leaves, carved steak, onions and aioli.
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